HEART OF ICE

CHAPTER 12

The pace of my pedaling slowly increased as I crossed the dry soccer field. The stalking vehicle stayed just a second behind. I leaned closer to the handlebars of my bike, my feet beginning to piston harder onto the pedals. The gated edge of the baseball field ahead of me was coming closer even faster. The van's engine revved loudly-a warning, maybe? With less than a foot of space between my front wheel and the half-rusted, chainlink fence, I veered sharply and suddenly to the left. My back wheel slid wildly in the frosty grass. I didn't crash, but it was close. Small pieces of the dead, yellow grass sprayed across the bottom of the fence.

I pedaled as hard as I could for the third time that morning. Behind me, the black van's engine growled. It accelerated forward, practically jumping off the asphalt to keep up with me. I could hear doors opening and closing on a nearby building as I raced past, my course leading me close to the main part of the middle school campus. The names of teachers and students swept past me in a blur as I sprinted through the grass between the baseball field and the school buildings.

Then, the campus had ended. My bike sailed off a curb I had reached too quickly to slow down. I bounced off the mesh saddle, gasping for breath and trying to keep the bike steady. It wobbled dizzily but never fell all the way over. The van swerved loudly around the corner behind me. Its heavy tires screeched and skipped over the damp asphalt. Its engine growled again as it straightened out, accelerating toward me.

With a quick and panicked glance over my shoulder, I pushed even harder into the spinning pedals. The bike launched forward a little faster. I zigzagged across the road, trying to keep the menacing mini-bus from pulling up beside me. It sped up anyway, moving closer and closer even as it weaved slightly between lanes behind me.

My legs were burning, protesting the extra stress of the morning. I ignored it as best I could, gritting my teeth and trying even harder to get more speed out of my small, department store bicycle. I wasn't getting away, though. My cramping legs were no match for a gas-powered engine with more horse power than I could think to count. All I could do was hope to reach my school. Then...Then...Well, I didn't really know what then. But I'd figure it out.

At a few dozen feet from a stop sign looming over the road in front of me, two sets of names suddenly appeared in my vision. Charging toward the intersection in a loud, snarling van was Ariana and her gang. The wounded vehicle leapt into view on my left. They were were headed straight for the spot I was nearly at. Behind me, the intact van accelerated a little more, its nose right behind me and nudging me forward. I gasped, realizing what was happening. I was being herded toward Ariana.

The noisy whine of a small motorcycle grabbed at my attention from off to my right. The second set of names hovered above the two riders of the motorbike racing through a subtle curve on the sloping road. Baron Roget and Gerald Warton. I didn't know them. Not yet.

There was no more road left between me, the intersection, and the two vans. The van behind me revved loudly, its bumper lunging toward my back wheel. Ariana's van swerved toward the grassy corner. I was going to get crushed!

Little gears clicked loudly. A small engine's whine hit a new volume. All of a sudden, Baron Roget's motorcycle rocketed over the sidewalk and corner to my right, barley missing the tall stop sign. It sped past me, cutting through the narrowing space between the van and me like a missile. The armored menace slammed on its brakes. At the same time, I turned my bike sharply into the new gap before I even saw it. The tires of Ariana's van screeched, the heavy wheels bucking against the brakes that tapped suddenly against them. I zipped past the van's front, hearing the brown-haired bully shout at her driver bitterly.

I followed the faded lines dividing the asphalt into two lanes down the street. It was empty of cars except for the two behind me, and the motorcycle turning around in the grass. I looked over my shoulder, seeing the names of the two boys on the buzzing bike. The two vans were recovering from their miss, Ariana's van already pointed, and starting a new charge, toward me.